BROTHER

“We´re two, two for everything, for love, life, for a fight and pain, for hours of happiness. Two for wins and losses, for life and for death - TWO!”  ~Karel Čapek

Čapek’s brother Josef had a lifelong influence on him. Growing up, the two were seldom apart until 1910, when he went to Berlin as a part of his studies while his brother went to Paris. Upon reuniting in Prague, he penned many of his most known works with his older brother Josef Čapek (1887-1945), who was famous in his own right as an artist and writer. Exploring lighthearted subjects, Karel wrote a year-round guide to gardening, The Gardener's Year (Zahradníkův rok, 1929), with illustrations by his brother Josef. Both authors also enjoyed producing children’s literature. Čapek authored Nine Fairy Tales: And One More Thrown in for Good Measure (1932), which is his collection of fairy tales and one from his brother. Josef’s illustrated series about the Doggie and Pussycat are considered classics of Czech children's literature, affectionately passed down by each generation. The collection of nine charming stories includes How They Made a Cake, How They Found a Doll That Cried Very Softly, and How They Washed the Floor. The two brothers lived to see the political fallout in Europe leading to WWII, with Josef suffering an ill fate at the hands of the Nazis. Josef Capek died in the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in April 1945.    

Photo Courtesy: Karel Čapek Memorial    
Karel Čapek and his brother Josef